UPDATE: Bedbugs Love AMC Empire 25, Hate Republicans

At left, bites sustained last night during a screening of Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World at AMC Empire 25 on West 42nd Street.

[UPDATE BELOW] After seizing the Brooklyn DA's office and the Time Warner Center last week, a new division of bloodthirsty bedbugs has sacked the AMC Empire 25 multiplex in Times Square. A moviegoer who requested anonymity tells us that 30 minutes into last night's screening of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, she was "covered in bites." (Guess The New Yorker was right—that movie really does bite, eh?) And it's not just the Times Square location that's infested, according to our source.

"The staff at the customer service desk confirmed that the theater has known of the infestation for days and that it will not be fumigated until Tuesday," says the bitten woman. "They also told me that the AMC on 125th is fighting a bedbug infestation as well." Bedbugs thrive in the dark, and have previously feasted on moviegoers in Park Slope and Sheepshead Bay. Obviously, this is just another reason to go with Netflix, but doesn't the movie theater have some obligation to warn customers that they're being dinner and a movie?

Jamie, a manager at AMC who would only give his first name, tells us they did not have any notice posted, but claims that they did not know about the infestation until last night. He says exterminators will be working in the multiplex after it closes tonight, but the theater is still selling tickets for today. He also tells us that the bedbug problem at 125th street "has been taken care of." Of course, bedbugs are remarkably resilient and aren't eradicated so easily. The Park Slope Pavilion, for instance, has had repeated problems with the parasites, which can live for over a year between feedings.

Scarlett Johansson: Bed bug target?

Meanwhile, the cover of the Daily News features bedbugs—and Scarlett Johansson! While it's unclear if any bedbugs have had the sublime privilege of biting the succulent starlet, the tabloid reports that according to a Marist poll, one in 10 New Yorkers has had bedbugs in their home. That's double the number estimated by the city in 2009. According to the poll, New Yorkers making less than $50,000 a year were twice as likely to have bedbugs as those with higher incomes, and only 2% of Republicans admitted to experiencing bedbugs, while 12% of Democrats did. It could be that there are just fewer Republicans to feed on in NYC, or maybe the Republicans are just better at holding onto their blood. But regardless of your political affiliation, rest assured that the bedbugs are coming for you—they are coming for all of us, and it's only a matter of time. Only the Czar can save us now!

UPDATE 11:30 a.m.: Our source just sent us an outraged follow-up email, which reads: "My friend and I were immediately given a refund as well as free passes and some concession coupons that we will not be using. None of the staff members were surprised; they even gave me tips on how to prevent getting them at home! Allegedly the Bedbugs showed up within days of the ones at 125th Street.

"This morning I received a call from an unapologetic general manager who was looking for the names of the staff members I has spoken to. He denied the infestation and blamed it on someone who sat in the seat before me. He repeatedly mentioned that a bedbug sniffing dog has not found any bugs two weeks ago as if that would change the fact that they have them now. With one infested theater in the city and hundreds of patrons every day I find it careless that they thought one visit by a dog every few weeks would suffice. It is disgusting that they would risk their staff and patrons by staying open today." But... but how can they disappoint all the people who've bought tickets to Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore 3D today?!

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on August 16, 2010 9:33 AM

Comments [rss]

rpakmuz

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Ryan_Noonan

At AMC Theatres, the health and safety of our guests and associates is of the utmost importance and we take every guest report seriously. That’s why we have taken aggressive and proactive steps to help ensure our theatres remain free of bed bugs.

For example, a guest reported she received a bed bug bite at our AMC Magic Johnson Harlem 9 theatre on July 30. We immediately contacted pest control specialists. Upon learning that bed bugs were inside some auditoriums, we promptly closed the theatre and quickly began treatment. The theatre was not reopened until cleared by our pest control specialists.

Despite our theatre in Harlem being the only one with a report of bed bugs, we proactively inspected every one of our theatres in Manhattan. At AMC Empire 25, this inspection occurred on Aug. 3 and detected bed bugs on two of the 4,700 seats inside the theatre. Those seats were immediately removed and treated that day.

Based on our pest control specialists’ recommendation, we retreat theatres two weeks after their initial treatment. In the case of our Empire 25 theatre, the two-week follow up treatment occurs today (Aug. 17). Unfortunately, a guest reported bed bug bites at Empire 25 this past weekend, so we quickly re-inspected the auditorium in question and upon finding bed bugs in that auditorium, which had previously tested negative on Aug. 3, we immediately closed it until it receives treatment tonight. Empire 25 will be treated again in two weeks in accordance with our prevention policy.

We will continue to vigorously inspect our theatres and instantly treat any bed bug detections.

Thank you.

Ryan Noonan

Guest Services Manager - Social Media

AMC Theatres

jeremoss

there's little chance anyone would manifest such bite marks in the first 30 minutes of being bitten. chances are, this woman has them at home and was bitten previously, in her own bed at night. the theater may also have bugs, coincidentally, but those likely aren't the bugs biting this woman.

from http://www.bedbuginfo.com/bed-bug-bite-symptoms.php:

"The tricky thing is that there is a lag between the time somebody has been bitten and the time symptoms show up. Sometimes up to 9 days. The more times a person is bitten, the less lag there is between the biting and the showing of symptoms."

Nyctini11

When i dealt with them, bites showed up instantly. I think it really depends on how reactive each person is. My fiance never once had any symptoms of being bit and we shared the same bed, switching sides even at one point. For me, i start itching w/in 5-10mins of the bite occurring.

John L

"New Yorkers making less than $50,000 a year were twice as likely to have bedbugs as those with higher incomes" that's the problem, Bloomberg won't consider it a problem until it affects them.

Can all the health inspectors worried about giving restaurants letter grades or going to bars at night looking for ashtrays please get themselves some of the bedbug sniffing dogs and start inspecting public spaces, please. Let them go to movie theaters, retail stores, office buildings etc.

Bed Bugs should be on the top of the list of things affecting all NYers and at this point should be considered a public health crisis in this city.

mattyp4

FUCK! I say we stop worrying about stupid shit like mosques being built at Ground Zero & put some more effort into getting rid of these god damned bed bugs. Clearly they're a much bigger threat to the city!!!

John L

Yesssss! Thank you!

Mordicai

I had them. They were the pits. I think the person on the other side of the wall-- in a different building, natch-- was the reservoir, because we'd nuke them & things would seem to be going fine...then blammo. Conversely, they are tough to get rid of, so who can say. We did everything-- running all our stuff through driers, exerminators, getting the bug bombs that they aren't resistant to, sleeping in another room. Eventually we triumphed, but it was a sucky couple months.

Guest

hello...? at work here. i can't even read the article.

and i can't even enjoy the pic...

Guest

the worst is when you scroll down and for some odd @#$%-ing reason the display gets stuck with the pic on the screen...

Såkandulæredet

I heard DDT kills bed bugs the best. Any truth to this?

schadenfreudian mensch

No truth. They've become resistant to DDT.

Nyctini11

I keep reading that too, but DDT's been banned for quite a while, isn't it worth testing to see if there's any truth behind the claims? Especially since i keep reading more and more about strains in certain regions being more resistant to chemicals then strains in other areas. I think it was something like Cleveland had a harder to eradicate strain, but hell, i say with this kind of ongoing issue, lets at least give it a try.

jaycjay

There's plenty of evidence that DDT resistance still persists cited at this site:

http://newyorkvsbedbugs.org/category/ddt/

Såkandulæredet

I saw that site, isn't the most recent study from the 80s? Isn't that a long long time in terms of bedbug generations? Anyway, not an entomologist or anything.

hasoferet

And this is one of the ways those damned things spread. Irresponsible theater managers/owners who don't shut down at the first sign of an infestation.

Rocknrope

You may as well have ended the article right at the Scarlett pic.

sadpanda

And only 2% of Republicans admitted to experiencing bedbugs, while 12% of Democrats did

Yeah, that makes sense. I hear blood sucking insects don't like to bite other breeds of parasites. Maybe we should poll the bedbugs and ask how many times they've been bitten by republicans?

TimSPC

What's all this about Scarlett Johansson?

schadenfreudian mensch

Another reason to avoid movie theaters. When you add the $12.50 price of movie, coupled with the aholes and their incessant texting during a movie and/or families who bring their 4 year olds to an "R" rated movie this is pretty much the nail in the coffin of me ever stepping in to a movie theater.

schadenfreudian mensch

I don't know. I got up to Scar Joe's breast and then everything else was a blur.

Kojak

30 minutes into last night's screening of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, she was "covered in bites."

Well that's what you get for seeing such a stupid movie. Think of it as one of the seven plagues that God casted down from the Heavens.

Luis Angel Gonzalez Jr.

Shut your stupid face. Scott Pilgrim was one of the best films of 2010.

Mordicai

I had them. They were the pits. I think the person on the other side of the wall-- in a different building, natch-- was the reservoir, because we'd nuke them & things would seem to be going fine...then blammo. Conversely, they are tough to get rid of, so who can say. We did everything-- running all our stuff through driers, exterminators, getting the bug bombs that they aren't resistant to, sleeping in another room. Eventually we triumphed, but it was a sucky couple months.